Blog Posts by: Marc Cook  

You wouldn't get much objection if you said, "Everything is more expensive than it used to be." Here's the exception that proves the rule: Schuberth ...    Read more

Months after KTM’s CEO Stefan Pierer announced that his holding company had purchased Husqvarna from BMW, plans have been revealed that bring Husky and Husaberg together, while also severing ties with Husky’s current manufacturing facility in Biandronno, Italy. The new company will be called Husqvarna Sportmotorcycle GmbH, based ...    Read more

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This is the actual tool kit delivered with a 2013 Honda. And it’s not a mistake: You’re looking at everything intended to come with the bike. Really. ...    Read more

Aerostich founder Andy Goldfine stepped out to the curb at 655 Bryant Street in San Francisco and surveyed the lineup of two dozen motorcycles parked at the curb. I doubt he was thinking, “We’re not in Duluth anymore,” but he seemed satisfied at the turnout for only the first hour ...    Read more

As part of the affliction that makes me modify or “upgrade” all my motorcycles, I installed a set of braided-steel brake lines on my 2005 Suzuki DR650. They helped improve brake feel and would be, I hoped, durable. On the DR, as on many dirt bikes, the relatively flexible line is ...    Read more

Our epic four-day, 2200-mile sport-touring comparison test took us from SoCal to Albuquerque through some of the most gorgeous and demanding roads California, Arizona, and New Mexico could throw at us. It was cold. Real cold, including an overnight low of 17 degrees in Albuquerque and persistent ...    Read more

PHOTOS: Andrea Wilson, Ari Henning Just as nature slowly restores itself after a cataclysmic event, our little corner of the motorsports landscape has green shoots inching up through the dark forest floor. Haven’t seen them? I have, most recently at the International Motorcycle Show that just rolled through Long Beach, CA. ...    Read more

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I just got in from a 150-mile jaunt on an injudiciously modified Triumph Daytona 675—a machine I dubbed the “farkelbike” the first time I saw it. It’s actually a pretty neat piece. Seriously hard-core, yes, but the modifications have not ruined it, which is always slightly amazing. Along with the ...    Read more

The other shoe has dropped in the shakeup for Ducati’s MotoGP squad as embattled engineer Fillipo Preziosi has been moved up the corporate ladder while ex-BMW Superbike Director, Bernhard Gobmeier takes his place as GM of Ducati Corse. Valentino Rossi’s relationship with Preziosi unraveled in the press over the last ...    Read more

PHOTOS: Kevin Wing They say: "Timeless look, inspired performance." We say: "Half the guys who see it won't know it's new." At a time when so many retro bikes center on Honda hardware, it’s ironic that the company itself has shied away from the old-is-new angle for the last decade. In 1999, Honda ...    Read more

If Ducati’s interpretation of a cruiser in the form of the Diavel left a lot of riders scratching their heads, imagine what this will do. Here is the 2013 Diavel Strada, Borgo Panigale’s take on the touring cruiser. Atop the Diavel's unexpectedly good chassis and polarizing styling ...    Read more

Ducati has comprehensively updated the Hypermotard line for 2013 by shoehorning in a version of the Testastretta 11-degree engine, offering two specifications of the main model, and adding something called the Hyperstrada, a distance-worthy model likely to be known as the mini-Multi for its resemblance to the ...    Read more

Continuing the development of its three-cylinder series and expanding the model options, MV Agusta has introduced the Rivale 800, a clear competitor to the Ducati Hypermotard. Featuring the firm’s newly punched-out triple, bumped from 675cc to 800cc, the Rivale employs a signature steel-tube trellis frame that gives ...    Read more

American Suzuki Motor reported today that its automotive division will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and "wind down" operations. According to the company, "The most important thing for you to know is that we intend to continue to operate our Motorcycles/ATV and Marine businesses as usual. We ...    Read more

I’m a fan of elegant design. So, when I saw the way Honda handled windshield adjustment on the NC700X, I was delighted. It’s a simple system, with four sets of paired holes offset vertically by 20mm. Which set you thread the screen’s four screws into determines the ...    Read more

I have friends who love vintage motorcycles, and by that I mean anything with points ignition, drum brakes, and valves you can adjust with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, or maybe just a hammer. I also have friends who adore current machinery. If the warranty has expired, it’s ...    Read more

The otherwise lovely Moto Guzzi V7 Stone is, like a lot of modern motorcycles, sticker bombed. And not for product placement...no, they're warning stickers. When the meds kick in, I accept these dimwitted examples of a legal system run amok as a necessary evil, a way to ...    Read more

In my mind, bikes like the Triumph Tiger Explorer are for us old guys. It’s a mature machine for mature riders—a sensible road burner with a seating position kind to brittle old bones, shredded cartilage, and persistent sciatica. It has an air of sophistication, a mien of "I can do ...    Read more

I have a pretty good idea of what the new Honda NC700X will be good at, but this much I absolutely know: it’s a fantastic commuter. In the week since it joined our long-term fleet, I’ve put 165 miles on it, wearing ...    Read more

Most of the journalists attending Kawasaki’s press launch of the Ninja 300 in Healdsburg, California, came by air, sashaying through the Charles M. Schultz airport in Sonoma and whisked to the event hotel in an air-conditioned minivan. Probably there were refreshments. Kawasaki's press-relations people are good like that. I wasn't among ...    Read more